Posts on “ teacher resources ”

Announcing the GLS Playful Learning Summit! Are you an educator passionate or curious about game-based learning and digital media?  You are invited to register for the 2013 Games+Learning+Society Playful Learning Summit (formerly GLS Educators Symposium, or GLSES).  The inaugural Playful Learning Summit at the GLS 9.0 Conference will take place on Tuesday, June 11th at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Memorial Union from 8 A.M. to 6:00 P.M. Come Play: Keynote and Workshops The Playful Learning Summit will feature: A keynote address by Dani Herro, Assistant Professor for Digital Media and Learning at Clemson University.  Dani is a teacher educator with deep Wisconsin roots – she is the former Instructional Technology Administrator of Oconomowoc Schools and is a GLS alumna having earned her Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2010.  The theme of her keynote address is “connected learning.” Over a dozen hands-on workshops relevant to educators across grade levels and content areas.  This year’s workshops will explore STEM education, digital storytelling, video game design, affinity spaces and literacy education, and the design of “gameful” classrooms, curricula, and experiences.  For educators interested in playful “low-tech” games, come learn about improvisation, engaging lessons through physical movement, and gaming for social justice…. Read the Rest»

BrainPOP is proud to be sponsoring the Apps that Close the Gap Summit at Teachers College, Columbia University this Saturday May 11th.  This unique day long summit is designed to address using technology to accelerate achievement in black and latino students while incorporating Common Core State Standards into classroom instruction. Andrew Gardner, senior manager of BrainPOP educators will co-present about digital citizenship with Desiree Bayonet from GameUp partner iCivics.  In addition there will be panels addressing innovative use of virtual learning spaces and future technologies featuring presentations from Google, Dreambox Learning, ifoster, Coder Dojo,  Global Kids.  Click the link above and register for free!

Here are 5 ways to shine April’s BrainPOP spotlights Earth Awareness and Money Matters into your classroom. 1) April 22nd is Earth Day – have students explore the entire Earth Awareness Spotlight page. Follow this lesson plan and help them choose their cause. 2) April 15th is tax day! Help your students understand why the grownups are grumpy by watching the taxes movie during morning meeting, or playing Budget Hero on GameUp. 3) Though many US citizens are still struggling financailly, US stocks have recently hit an all time high. Help your students explore what it means to buy shares of a publicly traded company with our stocks and shares movie. 4) April 25th is World Penguin Day! Enjoy the penguin movie and learn some fun facts about our flightless feathered friends! 5) To solve the problems of Global Climate Change, global cooperation in the key. Help increase your student’s global awareness by participating in a meaningful global collaboration project! Check out this webinar with POPstar Lisa Parisi, of this list of links for some ideas to get started! These are just a few of the countless ways you can use BrainPOP and GameUp Spotlight content with your students. Share… Read the Rest»

With a witty, thoughtful and objective writing style, our friends over at EdSurge have spent the last 2 years developing the “go to” newsletters and website for the latest and greatest developments in the education technology industry. If you aren’t yet subscribing, you can sign up for both the original EdSurge newsletter, that covers the entire edtech ecosystem and EdSurge-Instruct: a more Teacher-focused edition. Signing up doesn’t cost a thing, and the benefits of knowing recent developments in edtech is great! To celebrate their second birthday, the writing staff at EdSurge asked industry players, including BrainPOP’s own COO Din Hieman, a series of thought provoking questions. What would you change in a school day? Who was your most memorable teacher and why? Sign up for the newsletter and read the amusing and intriguing answers to these questions from educators, entrepreneurs and other people of note. Once subscribed, you’ll continue reaping the benefit of EdSurge newsletters every week in your inbox!

Every January, the big players in the consumer electronics industry gather in Las Vegas to share the newest innovations and developments. From collossal TVs to networked “smart” home appliances this yearly event exhibits products that were once dreams of science fiction. For the past four years, Living in Digital Times and Children’s Technology Review have use the Consumer Electronics Show as the place to present the KAPi Kids at Play Awards, honoring the best of the best in children’s technology. This year’s KAPi Award winners were selected from a pool of over 700 apps, video games, toys and other commercial digital products designed for children, as well as individuals who have make their mark in the world of children’s tech. BrainPOP is thrilled that GameUp was selected to receive the award for Best Educational Technology! We’ve put a lot of effort into curating GameUp, to be the best digital learning game network, so we believe the recognition is well earned (and we hope you do too!) We’re even more thrilled to be included in the company of so many other terrific digital learning products such as LittleBits, Kinect Sesame Street, Kindle Fire HD Freetime, MakerFaire and Toca Boca. Thanks again… Read the Rest»

Guest Blogger and BrainPOP Educator Steve Isaacs share his methods for incorporating game design into his classroom.  You can find the post in it’s original form on Steve’s blog, games and learning Recently @techucation reached out to ask for some resources and ideas related to teaching Video Game Design and Development.  I responded to his inquiry and realized it would serve as a worthwhile blog post to share with the educational community.  Below is a general description of my 7th and 8th grade courses.  In 7th grade, I teach a six week introduction to video game design and digital storytelling.  In 8th grade I teach a full semester course in video game design and development.  I have also developed and teach the full semester course as an online high school course for The VHS Collaborative (http://thevhscollaborative.org/).  I hope you find the information helpful as I would love to see more courses evolve that teach important 21st century skills through game design. Currently, I am enrolled in the doctoral program in Educational Technology at Boise State University and the focus of my research is the pedagogical benefits of game design and development.  Some of the concepts I find most worthwhile to research… Read the Rest»

Searching for some last minute lesson plans to help students understand Thanksgiving?  Look no further than BrainPOP Educators Thanksgiving lesson plan and teaching tools page for some useful teaching tips and tricks.  Your might also consider directing your students to American Indian Spotlight page for additional context about the holiday, especially the complicated and often misunderstood connections between American Indians and European Colonists. As we take a short break for the November holiday, we reflect on how thankful we are that you, our BrainPOP educators,  contribute to our robust teacher community.  See you after the break!

If you’ve downloaded our BrainPOP Jr. iOS app, you may have noticed an update last week. We’re excited to announce that the new version includes in-app purchasing and updated accessibility features for iOS 6. You will now have the option to purchase the “Explorer” subscription (Movie of the Week plus three additional related movies and quizzes) for $1.99 per month, or Full Access (all topics) $5.99 per month. Of course, you’ll still be able to download the app to access the Movie of the Week plus all free BrainPOP Jr. content at no charge.  Enjoy the update.

BrainPOP is thrilled to be a sponsor of one of the most innovative professional development conferences to hit the web!  The 3rd annual Global Education Conference is a free 5 day, 24/7, 300+ session extravaganza and it started yesterday.  With so much to navigate, this handy “conference guide” is a great entry point to the conference.  BrainPOP is specifically sponsoring all the conference sessions spotlighting Game Based Learning and Game Design in the context of Global Education. If you’ve been enjoying BrainPOP’s GameUp, check out some of the following sessions: Tuesday – (Time listed GMT-5, Eastern Time)  Bright and early at 8AM (if you’re on the east coast of the USA) you can join Learning Games Network director Alex Chisholm for an exploration of a killer game for ELL called Xenos Isle.  His session is called: Play Games-Learn English: Learning Games Network and Game-Based Language Learning Resources Later in the evening, join Dr Bronwyn Stuckey & Professor Sasha Barab present a special Keynote session  Next Generation Learning: Games and Global Community from 10-11PM On Wednesday at 8:00 AM learn about the joy of learning in a MOOC with Instructional Designer Kae Novak: Games MOOC: Where M stands for Modest and C stands for Community.  Tune… Read the Rest»

Today is the big day, and BrainPOP is here to help your students understand everything about elections.  Our election spotlight page is a terrific portal to begin exploring. From Election Games  on GameUp, to our election lesson plans and teaching tools, you are sure to find valuable topics pages full of content to help build understanding of the many aspects of this historic election.  Want to share how you’re using BrainPOP resources, or learn about what others are doing?  Join our Election discussion group and participate in our community conversation.